Space Trip Steps
by The Ansem Man
Summary: "Welcome to Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park! Where you can... hey wait a minute, don't touch that button! CURSE YOU, CLASS 3-A!" Sonic Colors, as experienced by the cast of Negima. Get your sweet tooth on in Sweet Mountain!
1. Tropical Resort: This Horizon

**Space Trip Steps**

**Tropical Resort: This Horizon**

(Lo and behold, opening notes: I own nothing of the characters herein, property of Ken Akamatsu and Sega respectively. I do this for fun and stress relief and certainly not profit! )

"**We here at Eggman Industries are proud to welcome you to Dr. Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park. Here, you'll be able to enjoy visiting five planets for the price of one!**" The loudspeaker blared as the huge space elevator came to a stop.

The massive elevator's doors slowly opened, and with that, the latest batch of tourists emerged into the mechanical floating wonderland. Except well, the good majority of this group belonged to none other than class 3-A. Yeah, that's right. The legendary class of troublemakers, taught by one underaged harem male lead Negi Springfield. It seemed that one field trip was not enough to satisfy the crazy classes urges, there needed to be more. More shenanigans, more adventures, more dangers, more classmates being kidnapped for nefarious purposes.

"**This wonderful park has been constructed entirely out of a sense of remorse for my past transgressions, and is in no way associated with any sort of evil plot or premeditated misdeeds,**" continued the bold voice over the speakers.

Safe to say, the words were so specific, it seemed to annoy at least one person. "Oh... really?" Chisame Hasegawa raised an eyebrow, completely not impressed by all the technology still not available regularly on earth. Hey, magic world makes things boring, you know. "Because that sort of talking fills me with _so_ much confidence." She adjusted her glasses with a push from her middle finger.

"What does he even mean by 'past misdeeds'?" the brown-haired Konoka Konoe asked, scratching her head in confusion. Her arm was wrapped around her bodyguard (and probably girlfriend) Setsuna.

"Relax, Chisame-chan~" came Haruna Saotome. "We're having a real vacation! In _SPACE_!"

"That also fills me with confidence. To the _brim_, even..."

"Class pres funded the whole thing," the short Yue Ayase pointed out.

"Oh really? I told her up front that if she's plotting something on Negi, I'd kick her ass to the next galaxy," White Wing de facto leader Asuna Kagurazaka crowed.

"Of course, only you would do something so brazen and awful," hissed her former archrival and rich lady Ayaka Yukihiro. "For all intents and purposes, this was a vacation handpicked and recommended by my best advisors! Letting Negi-sensei come along was simply an additional gift!" Before Asuna could launch an objection to that, Ayaka sharply added, "AND everyone else! Who wouldn't be here if I wanted Negi-sensei to myself!" Well, that was still possible...

"Right..." Asuna rolled her eyes. "I'll believe that as soon as my shotacon detector comes back and stops breaking in your presence."

Ayaka had the good graces to ignore her at this point.

Asuna huffed as she left that train of thought, then turned to someone who didn't catch her interest that often. "What's up with you, Misora-chan?" Well, apparently that changed.

The short-haired Misora Kasuga had an odd mix of amusement and worry etched on her face. This, despite the dark-skinned girl riding atop of her shoulders, didn't keep her from standing tall. "Ehh..." She shrugged. "It's finally a vacation! A real one! And by the looks of it," she and the girl atop her looked about at the tropical themed buildings, the flashing neon lights. "...it looks like loads of fun. But... knowing my luck, it ain't gonna stay that way." She shot a glance at the child genius now attempting to herd the class over in the direction of the hotels. When Asuna gave her a dark look, she tried to justify herself. "He's a trouble magnet, I swear!"

"Are you blaming Negi-bouya for your troubles?" Misora flinched as she felt the icy gaze of one Evangeline A.K. McDowell. Slowly, as if she were facing death itself, she turned around. No need for stating 'as if', staring down Eva was probably _worse_ than death. "You might as well start running now, coward. Though I doubt that will save you."

Knowing that she was chancing fate (not Averrunicus), luck, and probably her existence, she still got pissed and snapped back, "Damn right I'm running! I'm not getting involved in any of those shenanigans again!"

Evangeline laughed cruelly. "I'd watch your mouth if I were you. Not everyone around these corners knows of magic. And it's best that it's kept that way. Don't want you ruining things for everyone, after all."

Misora had nothing to say to that. She wasn't interested in dying today.

She did, however, have a question. "Say, how the hell are you up here, anyway? Don't you have a curse?"

"My answer is this: technology is wonderful, worth sacrificing a few rainforests for, at least!" she laughed. She then leaned in and added, "The dean agreed, don't ask him about it. Let's go, Chachamaru."

"Understood, Master," came the smooth, monotone voice of her robotic guard.

"Right," Misora decided that she had enough talking to her today, and she should get a freaking medal for not being killed in her presence.

As the rambunctious class and their hapless supervisors made their way to the hotel area, the loudspeakers flared to life. "**Our hotel area has numerous styles for all kinds of tourists, including rooms for lone travelers, large rooms for entire groups, and lovely quarters for couples, ideal for the two people who just won't admit it already**."

And everybody in 3-A (plus Kotarou and Cocone) immediately looked at Konoka and Setsuna.

Konoka, paused at everyone's stares, merely blinked apprehensively. "What's everyone staring at us for?"

Setsuna was sweating buckets.

"Ummm, let's keep moving please!" Came the voice of one Negi Springfield.

* * *

"Man, these rooms have everything!" Asuna crowed, launching herself into a huge, egg-shaped beanbag. It was incredibly comfortable, enough that she laid back, and almost would have been dozing off instantly had Negi not accidentally smacked her with his staff as he carried their things in the room. "Oww! Watch what you're doing, Negi!"

"Sorry, Asuna-san," Negi muttered, finally setting down the stuff. "All this stuff at once is hard to navigate with, and I can't look _too_ strong in front of everybody."

"Uwaah~, this place really is nice," The soft voice of Nodoka Miyazaki marveled at the spacious room their group was in. Yue, tailing right behind her, was in agreement.

"Wish I could say the same for this insignia that's all over the place," Haruna rankled her nose as she came in, easily claiming a table for herself and setting a sketchpad on it. She whirled and pointed to the obviously sinister marking that was all over... everything. "It's fugly to the worst degree! Who designed this place?"

"Now now, Haruna-san, let's not leap to conclusions on the designer's talent, or lack thereof," Negi gently chided.

"I'll go with the latter, 'kay thanks," Asuna quipped.

"I'd be a bit more careful about this vacation if I were you," Evangeline crowed, making her grand entrance into the room. Much like the Kyoto trip, most of the groups gathered here were with the same people they had gathered with months prior. "You see bad fashion statement, I see a villain with enough money and power to say, 'Welcome to my parlor, said the spider to the fly'. But still, don't let that stop you from having fun. Maybe you pitiful fools can use this as a chance to train AND enjoy yourselves at the same time."

What of Ala Alba had gathered here sagely nodded.

"But what are the chances of that? Nobody would be stupid enough to hide an evil lair in an amusement park!" Evangeline pointed and laughed. "You should have seen the looks on your faces!"

"Eva-san!" Negi complained.

"You damned vampire brat!" Asuna bellowed, immediately stomping over to wage war via a face stretching contest. "You actually had us going for a minute!"

"Let go, you magic canceling neanderthal!" Evangeline complained right back.

As the usual Ala Alba antics kicked in, Negi noticed two of their close number weren't here. "Hey, where's Konoka-san and Setsuna-san?"

Haruna looked around, and seeing no sign of the yuri duo, sneered in success. "When a woman and a woman love each other very much..."

"Please spare me _those_ details!"

* * *

Setsuna opened her room. "Um, everyone! Please don't mind that—huh?" The room she stepped in was empty. It was also notably smaller than the pamphlet said. "Um, where did everyone go? Asuna-san? Negi-sensei?" She was certain that they were supposed to be with group five, but everyone said it was this room. "Ojou-sama?"

"Secchan?" came the fair voice of her charge. "Ah, there you are! Our stuff is in here okay!"

"Ojou-sama, where's everyone else?"

"They originally got this room, but moved up to another one. They said we could keep this room, though," Konoka began to unpack. "So guess what that means?"

Setsuna had to think about that one. Well, with everyone else gone to another room, she'd be alone with Konoka. That also meant she'd have a bit more freedom, and—WAITASECOND. "A... We're alone?"

"Yeah, we're all alone Secchan!" Konoka chirped, as if she had just given Setsuna a small present.

'All alone' began to echo in Setsuna's mind, quickly flooding her brain with the sheer implications of it all. She was alone. With Konoka. And she smelled nice. But Shinmeiryuu protectors were supposed to stay chaste! What lunacy was this?

Setsuna cursed as she developed a severe nose bleed.

* * *

Right next door, someone had planted a cup to the wall.

"Are they kissing yet?" came the overexcited voice of one Yuna.

"I don't hear anything," Makie responded, her ear pressed to the cup.

"Are you sure you guys should be doing this?" Akira Ookouchi asked. "I mean, you should give those two a break and let their relationship bloom on its own time."

"We are!" the brown-haired, spunky Yuna shot back defensively. "We just like spying on them! Watching those two is like watching an awesome lesbian edition of a romantic comedy!" Akira's response? A face fault.

"Ehhh, I'm not sure about that analogy," Ako Izumi murmured.

"I'd keep your priorities straight if you ask me," it wasn't often that the dark-skinned Mana spoke, but when she did, it caught the other four's attention instantly. Calmly cleaning her gun, she continued. "I get a bad feeling about this place."

"What was your first clue?" Yuna's tone grew serious, though she kept a jovial face. "I mean, this insignia all over the place looks to be seriously evil."

"Right. I doubt whoever built this place has any sort of interest for a love struck couple."

"Awww! Don't be a spoil sport!" Makie complained. "Negi-kun and the Ala Alba have our backs if we find trouble!"

"_Then don't rush out to meet it_," Came Mana's terse response. The sports girls mellowed out after that.

However, problems kicked in again when Ako pressed the cup back onto the wall and listened again. Her eyes grew wide. When the others looked for an explanation, Ako hissed in wonder, "I think they're watching Kannazuki no Miko..."

She had enough of this.

While everyone else was unpacking and winding down, she was feeling antsy, especially after Evangeline's comments earlier that day. With her artifact, she could run like the wind, much like an unfettered blue hedgehog. She took a fierce leap and sailed down towards a rail, smoothly crashing her feet on it and grinding down the rest of the way. Being such a coordinated runner allowed her to pull off such amazing stunts, and that was why she liked both this power and her partner. She looked up at her passenger. "Yo Cocone! Holding out okay?"

"Yeah," came the soft voice. Cocone held on tightly, unperturbed by Misora's blinding speed. There was a brief pause as she added, "You know you're going to get in serious trouble for this. Divine punishment, even."

"Aww hush, I'm turning around right now. Doubt they'll even notice that I'm gone," she responded quietly, screeching to a stop and turning on a heel to begin the sprint back. She began to build up speed again as she began to leap back over the buildings...

An explosion struck, and Misora tripped on thin air. Cocone dismounted just as Misora crashed into the ground, rolled like a failed armadillo and crashed into a rooftop door.

"Ow," Misora groaned out the obvious as Cocone stared blankly at her idiotic ministra. "What the hell was that?"

Cocone sighed and walked over to the edge of the building where they crashed. She looked down at the atrium below and gasped. As Misora recovered and dashed over, she also looked down. And she was quite horrified—and weirded out—by the sight before her.

"_YEEEEEEHAW_!" crowed Yosemite Sa—err, a yellow, cubic robot. The metallic wonder was waving about a huge net, swiping at small creatures roughly a third his size. "Git aloooong little aliens!"

"Your voice chip is stuck on cowboy again..." came the prim and proper sigh of a red, spherical robot. Lazily aiming his blaster, he shot at the tiny creatures, missing readily, but trying to steer them so they'd be easier for his yellow partner to swipe. "Stop talking and net those aliens!"

"Gotcha, pardner! C'mere!" came the response, and he sailed forward, trying to swipe the poor, defenseless aliens. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) he had all the proper coordination of an ADD riddled child on an out of control lawnmower, and though his swipes came close, the aliens were too fast for him to catch. His partner was a great deal smarter, but alas he was too lazy, and eventually quit shooting, preferring to shrug and then simply prop his head on his hands.

Cocone's first words at seeing the scene? "Robot poachers!"

Misora, normally a coward, contorted into an angry snarl. "I hate robots, and I hate poachers. To see them both combined right in front of me...?" She took a flying leap into action immediately. Her first leap allowed her to sail right on the head of the lazy red robot, smashing him down on the ground. The second hop landed her right in range to grab the two small aliens and land a sweep kick to the yellow cube bot, causing him to crash. She ran back to the edge and wall jumped her way back to the upper area, where Cocone was waiting. "What's going on, anyway?"

To her surprise, the red robot recovered handily. "Oww~! Nothing that concerns you." He aimed his blaster at Misora and fired. The cowardly nun squeaked and fled out of harm's way.

"We got interlopers? Let's stop 'em!" cried the Yosemite Sam reject.

Misora snarled. With the two aliens in her arms, she wasn't fast enough to counterattack—only run. Well, it was what she did best, so arching her feet, she mentally made a plan for swiping Cocone and running off—

One of the small aliens slipped out of her grasp. Both of them had a basic form of looking like small octopi with three limbs. This one that had been freed swirled around her with two fierce eyes, its dark green body easy for her to follow in her confusion. It then slid right into her.

Misora suddenly found herself letting go of the other alien, flaring to life as if someone had force fed her several energy drinks. She flared with a green energy, and literally became a powerful, bouncy laser beam that shot straight through the robotic duo, blasting them into the skyline. The laser beam of doom returned to Cocone's side, and Misora reappeared. So did the alien, lazily drifting out of her, its energy spent.

"Whoa... that. Was. INSANE," Misora shook with excitement.

"True... and nobody's gonna believe us." Cocone stated bluntly.

"Maaaan! I knew my vacation was gonna be ruined!" Misora sulked. The other alien that remained, a pale blue one-eyed creature, began jabbering in a small, high-pitched voice. It seemed to be trying to tell the two of them something. Neither could make heads or tails of it—for all they knew, it told them that their mother was a hamster and their father smelt of elderberries. "I wish I knew what you were saying, little guy—or girl... or whatever you are..."

Well, the alien upped its attempts, this time adding wild gestures. It was no translation, but both girls could at least figure out it was grateful for the rescue. "Well, we've got to get back, before I get us into any more trouble," Misora sighed. She turned to the alien hovering by them, as Cocone quickly hopped on Misora's shoulders. "I dunno if we can keep you, but I think we can at least make a case."

She imagined it would go _so_ well with Nitta-sensei, or even better yet, Shakti.

* * *

With a soft sigh, Nodoka gazed longingly at the flashing lights. If there was one thing about this place, it was the fact that the view certainly did not disappoint. The view of planet Earth, hanging above them like a giant blue moon, was certainly spectacular. And the land itself—the Tropical Resort had everything a resort would have, including lavish spas, arcades, and even shopping malls.

However, the others had already left to go to the pool, and she was supposed to catch up! With a start, she remembered these wonderful facts and was about to go gather her things, but a green dot in the distance caught her eye. She stopped her scrambling and looked out the window at the unusual sight, wondering if her eyes were tricking her, or if it was part of the park.

A little green creature? Floating towards the ferris wheel? Something seemed quite odd about this, and for once, her curiosity curbstomped the logic that screamed, "curiosity killed the cat". Seemingly entranced, Nodoka left her stuff and swiped her pactio card and Comptina Daemonia instead. She also left a little note.

She may be flirting with possible idiocy, but no way was she going unprepared.

* * *

It was not too far of a trek. Nodoka stepped carefully, eyes wary of the strangely shaped robots milling about the park. All of them were red, with large upper bodies and oddly smiling faces. They seemed to pay her no attention so far, so she decided not to bother them either. She wasn't a fighter, so no need in engaging mooks when fighting them wasn't mandatory.

Having thought she spotted the green shape head down there, Nodoka entered a dark alleyway, though her alertness shot up five points, and she made her naturally quiet movements even more so. A little further walking, and she heard somebody taking count. "Hmm... twenty-three... twenty-four... twenty-five..." A grunt of frustration. "Bah! Not nearly enough aliens!"

"Would you like us to grab more aliens?" came another voice.

"No, I'd like you to grab me a burger and a shake!" there went the snide retort!

Even more nervous now, Nodoka leaned over, looking beyond into the foyer. She spied the same two robots Misora dealt with earlier, taking directions from a man in a red coat, seemingly in a floating gray, egg-shaped hover car. Though from her point of view, the only other detail she could pick out from her spot was the fact that this man had a rather epic handlebar mustache. She took a moment to imagine said mustache on Negi, but it didn't quite fit. Nodoka shook off such silly thoughts and continued her spying. She could make out twenty-five glass pods, each containing bright energy of some sort—and faint shapes that resemble the green streak she saw outside.

"That would actually be easier!" crowed the cowboy voice of the yellow Cubot. "Especially since cheeseburgers aren't as nearly as fast as those lil' alien varmints."

"You idiot! _Get me more aliens_!"the impatient voice yelled. And at once, the two nincompoop robots hovered away.

Though... it appeared Cubot had some issues. The most pressing and important one: "Y'all want fries with that?" The answer he was rewarded with turned out to be a wrench to the head. "Oww! Okay, I'm going." And he floated off.

Nodoka drew back into her hiding spot, to let the red robot float on by, not noticing her. Curious as to what "aliens" referred to, as well as the red-coated man, she leaned back out. He was now letting his car float lower to the pods. "Hehehe, precious little aliens..." He sneered. "I'll harness your Hyper-go-on powers, and then nobody will be able to stop me! I know I say that every time, but for serious this time—nobody will stop me! I even made sure that infernal blue hedgehog wasn't around here before I began!"

Okay, that sounded seriously bad. Nodoka had to inform Negi-sensei and the Ala Alba of this madman immediately, before it was—

Just her luck. She bumped into a stray trash can, making a clanging noise that gave her away. She panicked, and then realized that finding out dangerous information like this and then being found out was liable to get herself killed. Or at least tied up and stored away for some other nefarious scheme.

At least the latter had hope of rescue and backup plans.

"What was that?" the voice of the red-coated man shot through her like needles, and she felt the hover car lift up and zoom towards her location. "Well, well, what do we have here? Somebody snooping?" Eyes protected by sharp, black goggles glared down at the humble librarian. "No sneak previews! All rides and attractions not yet finished at Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park are strictly forbidden from tourist access. Though I suppose I can make an exception..." He gave a smile, though Nodoka was reminded more of the demonic grins Evangeline gave.

"YEEEEEHAW!" Oh look, the village idiot came back. "We have an intruder? What are we gonna do? Can we tie her by the train tracks and watch the train run her over?"

Nodoka paled, warily stepping back.

The rotund red man simply let his face rest in his palm, shaking his head.

The much smarter Orbot returned, holding a Instant Hostage kit. "Well, well, I suppose we can't have her running off to the others..." He clucked as he opened the tiny box and pulled out the prerequisite rope and tape. "You need to look the part so we can lure any do-gooders and defeat them as well."

"Ummm, your secret's safe with me, so I'd rather just get back to the hotel and rest, okay?" Nodoka tried inching away, and when she was far enough, broke into a sprint.

Cubot snatched the rope and instantly fashioned it into a lasso. "Oh no ya don't!" And of course, he chucked it, snatching her and forcing her to land on the ground. Both robots got to work, winding the rest of the rope over her torso and locking her hands behind her back.

"Oh no!" Nodoka cried, squirming against her bonds. "Help!"

* * *

Misora had alllllmost managed to make it back to her room, having taken a clever route past a rather obnoxious Egg Banner, with Cocone and the little alien in tow. But alas, as soon as she reached what she thought was the familiar front foyer, she saw emptiness.

She took a wrong turn.

"We're lost, aren't we?" Cocone asked bluntly.

"FFFFFF—maaaaaan!" Misora groaned, stopping her curse at the last second. "We are so _busted_!"

The little alien cared not for Misora's understatement; it squeaked and pointed downwards towards a lower deck.

And not just a moment later, she heard a familiar cry of "Help!"

Misora paled. "That sounds way too familiar..." She thought about it. "Wait a second... Miyazaki?" She sprinted down to get a closer look. Sure enough, there was a tied up Miyazaki, struggling in the grasp of... yep, those two robots again. "Geez, first they poach aliens, and now they poach classmates? Not cool!"

She set Cocone down. "Be back in a flash!" And of course she sprinted down towards the area, intending on snatching back Nodoka and getting the hell out of dodge.

Except that failed—all she got was a face full of Cubot.

Misora crashed into the ground, though she quickly recovered and whirled to face them again—and THAT was when she was aware of the fat man in the hover car. "Oh crap."

"That entrance... that was far too blue hedgehog-like for my tastes!" The irritable man snapped. "Not to mention you're not the first snooper running around here! Why even bother?"

The real reason was to save Nodoka, but Misora wasn't telling him that, no sir. "Because you're too slow, and you need to come on, and step it up." She attempted a brave sneer, though considering her normal cowardly nature, it didn't quite hold up.

"By the sounds of it, you're just as annoying, too!" The red man idly scratched his mustache, then smoothed it out. He pointed a commanding finger in Orbot's direction. "All right, Orbot! Release the Big Boy!" He whirled to Misora. "If you're anything like that annoying blue hedgehog, let's see if you're anything as good as he is with robots."

The red robot sighed and tapped some buttons down on his lower half.

The man on the other hand, pressed some buttons on his car, activating the windshield, and began to hover up. "Hasta la bye bye, suckers! Enjoy the free preview ride, courtesy of Eggman Industries!" And his gray hovercar blasted away.

The earth shook, and the half visible ferris wheel she had been ignoring up to this point had flared to life. It rose from the end of the foyer, apparently propelled by thrusters on its edge. A giant, monolithic sun-like creature with heavyset arms whirled to life in its center, gripping the outer rungs with its cold, steel hands. The huge whirring noises signified its movements as the sun-shaped spikes seemed to narrow its single eye before flaring to life wide open again. Robots as huge as that would crush puny school children with the effort it would take to pick one's nose.

Safe to say, Misora just blanched horribly, and began to quietly consider her will.

Nodoka, however, had no say. Cubot had sealed her mouth shut with tape, even going so far as to wrap it around her head a few times, and the fair librarian was struggling and mewling as he chucked her in one of the cars. "Mmmm!" She wailed, but the door was shut, and even kicking her tied legs in with all of her force couldn't open it.

"Enjoy the free ride, pardner!" He crowed, before hovering away. "YEEEEEHAWWWWW..."

Misora took a step back, eyes large and blank like a horrified cat's, not wanting to be involved in a boss fight today. "Maybe I should find someone else to fight this thing... I'm fast enough, right?"

The Big Boy, as it was called, adjusted its arms and let its spikes whirl menacingly, and they were awful close to Nodoka's prison car. With that threat, even she couldn't get another out here, and she'll be damned if she put Cocone at risk.

Steeling herself despite her shot nerves, she leapt towards the creature, rather than running away like her logic and personality screamed at her to do. "I'm scared as hell, and I can't take this anymore!" She cried as she took a flying leap onto the rungs of the menacing boss.

-x-x-

(And that ends part 1. Shorter parts for my story, crack is a little tougher to digest in long chapters, GHQ notwithstanding. In any case, enjoy this little crazy story, and as always check my author's notes link in my profile for more details within the next hour. Future parts are still being written, so theme park hijinks ideas involving 3-A are appreciated. Tune in next time to hear Misora complain, "BUT I THOUGHT SONIC BOSSES WERE SUPPOSED TO BE EASY!" Thanks to Dark Dragon Dave for betaing.)


	2. Tropical Resort: Right There, Ride On

**Space Trip Steps**

**Tropical Resort: Right There, Ride On**

"I'm scared as hell, and I can't take this anymore!" she cried as she took a flying leap onto the rungs of the menacing boss.

Big Boy's opening attack was to show Misora just how pointy its spines were. It slammed its spiky body on the rungs, trying to test out Misora's worth as a pincushion. Misora shrieked and scampered backwards, adjusting herself into a full on sprint as the hulking creature gave chase. Eventually her speed failed and gravity caught up. She whirled and landed on her feet, just in time to see the mechanical nightmare adjust itself and glare at her with its single eye.

Feeling bolder now, Misora decided she had enough of this thing chasing her around. She jumped off the platform she was on and dropped on it—hard.

The creature reeled, mechanical whirring and stamping almost like a tsundere temper tantrum. It slammed its hand down by Misora again, shifting its titanic weight to aim at her again.

Clenching her teeth, Misora noted that she needed to hit harder. But how the hell could she hit hard enough to shut it down? She need more speed, she needed...

Oddly enough, she spotted a red-topped clear capsule. Curious, Misora jumped up to it, dodging the awful spikes once again, and landed beside it. Despite its sturdy shape, she managed to break it with a simple kick. Two small, white aliens freed themselves from their prison, and gave a quiet nod to each other before plunging into Misora. The fierce energy threatened to take her over again, but now it was notably easier to keep under control.

Just as well, because there is now a crazy spike monster throwing _spike discs_ at her.

"Why does it always have to be spikes with you?.!" She whined, running as fast as her artifact—and her willpower—could carry her.

In the meantime, the car carrying Nodoka shook from the battle, and the tied up maiden found herself tumbling against the wall. She grunted under her gag, using her legs to prop herself as upright as she could. However, her attempts to flex out of the ropes weren't working yet. She could feel a bit of give on her wrists, but at this rate, she'd take too long.

_Hang in there... Misora-san...!_ She mentally cheered on the challenged girl outside.

After dodging the 9001st spike of doom, Misora found herself above the creature. She was starting to feel tired—that damn thing hadn't given her a good opportunity to beat it yet, and the creatures inside her were getting restless. But it was now or nothing—she couldn't afford to waste any more time. "I'm fed up of the likes of you!" she bellowed, dropping down, and the aliens inside her flared to life.

She found herself surging downwards, a torrent of powerful white energy. She felt her foot collide with the Big Boy's eye, sending it into what sounded like a pained screech. As she landed, the aliens floated away, and the creature began to short circuit, threatening to explode.

Looking up, Misora felt mighty impressed with herself. "You must be one pathetic killer robot to lose to me!" She made a show of dusting off her hands before jumping off...

...and jumping back on, scrambling about the cars. "Miyazaki!" she cried out, looking desperately for the captive Nodoka.

Inside her car, Nodoka could practically feel the ropes giving way, but not quite enough. She could hear the machine creaking and failing, and knew she needed to get out of here fast. However, Misora's voice snapped her to attention. "MMMM!" she cried out.

"Miyazaki!" came Misora's desperate call again. It was getting closer.

"MMMMM!"

"Miyaza—oh crap!"

Desperation giving her power, Nodoka kicked the door once more, only for it to swing wide open from the force. Surprised, she took a moment to lean out, only for Misora to sweep by and dive tackle her right back in. "Get down—" She hissed. Nodoka was confused for just two seconds before she found out why.

The Big Boy's eye flipped open, and dangerous debris and mechanical parts were spraying out like bullets—just one last retaliation against the obnoxious nun that had defeated it. Judging by the force and a flicker of light piercing the car, it didn't look like their protection solution was working out all that well. Both girls braced themselves, hoping that should anything hit, it wouldn't strike anything vital.

"Dark Barrier." a soft voice commanded.

The deadly bullet never came, as whatever was dropping on them stopped. They still heard some deadly projectiles outside, but it seemed to perfectly miss them outside.

When silence finally returned from its five minute vacation, Misora wearily got to her knees, examining Nodoka. "You okay?" It seemed that Nodoka was already halfway out of the ropes, but she helped anyway. The gag was very annoying to remove, considering the nature of duct tape.

"Ouch!" came a cry. "Yeah, more or less," Nodoka then said softly. "I thought this was supposed to be a vacation, and here I got kidnapped..."

"Tell me about it," Misora grumbled.

Their car shook.

"...when we _get out of here_!" she cried, taking Nodoka's hand and getting the hell out of dodge like she originally planned. The entire ferris wheel failed just as they had escaped, crashing down onto the valley of buildings below, exploding magnificently.

It was when she hopped out and landed safely on the bridge that she finally saw who protected her from the falling debris—and the alien was with her. "Cocone!"

"I hate using that technique," Cocone said quietly. A quiet glance at Nodoka. "You didn't hear me use it, okay?"

"Fine," Nodoka said, a bit cowed at her attitude but still grateful. "Thank you for helping us."

The little alien popped up, nodding its head.

"Wah!" She gasped upon seeing it. It veered closer to her. "It's cute..."

"Who knew one-eyed octopi could be adorable?" Misora added, lowering herself by instinct as Cocone immediately mounted her. "And it looks like the robots here are being jerks and trying to hunt them down."

The alien nodded enthusiastically and began to gibber in its language. The girls tilted in confusion.

But of course, Nodoka immediately figured out something useful. Pointing her ornate Comptina Daemonia at the creature, she asked, "Give me your true name, please!"

The alien stopped and tilted its small head in confusion.

"Adeat!" Nodoka cried, and her book was open in a flash, of course the power of it also gave the alien a wonderful panty shot of all three girls. For no reason. She looked down and saw the alien's name, but no words yet appeared. "Please ask him a question."

"Awright!" Misora said with a grin. With a loud and simplistic voice, as if she were attempting to speak Japanese to a foreigner (and what do you know, she was.), she enunciated, "WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT IS HAPPENING TO YOUR PEOPLE?"

Cocone just narrowed her eyes and shook her head in annoyance.

Nodoka peered down at her book while the words for him appeared. "He says his name is Yacker. He's froma race of beings called 'Wisps', which hail from a far away planet..." The one known as Yacker nodded fervently, happy that he could be understood. He floated around Nodoka in delight.

"Lisps?" Misora tilted her head.

"No. Wisps... with a 'W'."

Misora looked up at Cocone. "Yeah, I'll stick with aliens, if that's okay with everybody." Cocone actually cracked a light smile.

"And ummm... somebody with a lot of robots is kidnapping them for their powers..." Nodoka added.

"Whoa, we seriously walked into a huge conspiracy!" Misora gasped. Cocone nodded in agreement.

She looked down, her features widening in concern. "All I see now is 'Save them, save them, save them'."

Yacker's expression grew sad, and two of his three tentacles formed a prayer, as if begging them.

Misora frowned. "We can't do that alone..." She sighed. "And well, while everyone else would be eager to help, that would ruin this vacation for everyone hardcore. Right after that Mundus Magicus mess..."

Yacker sunk, even more depressed. Nodoka also frowned.

Seeing that, Misora gave a reassuring smile. "I'm not gonna stand on the sidelines, though. Robot poachers suck." Her smile became a sneer as Yacker looked relieved. "3-A's pretty rowdy, and with just about everybody knowing of magic, I'm sure it won't be difficult to put a little _mischief_ in everybody's hearts."

"What are you planning?" Nodoka asked.

"This is an amusement park, right?" Misora asked. "It'd be no fun if we just told Negi-sensei everything might be wrong. We should lay it up, cause a little mischief, and save the aliens while everyone's distracted! That way, everyone gets to have fun, and we get to do the good guy thing."

Nodoka sighed, but couldn't see what was wrong with that logic at the time. "Okay. But we _are_ going to tell Negi-sensei that this place might be more dangerous than it looks." She said. No way was she going to be a kidnap victim again—

—or especially top Konoka's record.

"Fine fine, let's blow this popsicle stand."

* * *

"Kasuga!" Ku Fei called out as the prankster nun arrived back at the hotel with Kasuga. "Where you been?" Others around, including Hakase, Satsuki, and Kaede, walked up, interested at why she had disappeared on them.

Misora wanted to lie. Just make up some excuse, and they'd probably believe it. But... "Eh... I went out for a jog, checked out the shopping malls, and trashed a giant killer robot. Nothing big." She shrugged. She mentally smacked herself for all of her idiocy.

This being 3-A though, it wasn't guaranteed that they'd notice. "How dare you!" Ku Fei dramatically complained, pointing a raging finger. "How dare you go shopping and not tell us if any awesome arcades are around here!"

Well, it looked like they failed to notice the important part. "Well, it kinda slipped my mind, I wasn't really looking..." She laughed weakly.

"Relax and chill, everyone," The plump cook Satsuki said. "We've got a whole week up here, so we have every night to find out all the stuff that this place offers us."

"We'll see," Ku Fei said, flashing Misora a smirk before walking off.

"So in short, Eva-san was right the first time?" Negi asked Nodoka.

* * *

"Yes, she was," Nodoka bowed her head.

"Figures..." Negi sighed and shook his head. "I'm not even sure if a boring vacation is even possible with this class..."

"Look on the bright side," Asuna said. "Eva-chan has to eat crow."

"More like I'm going to make _you_ eat crow," sneered the vampire, pointing at Asuna. "You can bet I'm going to send you out to the most dangerous parts of the theme park. Too many stupid innocents running around means you'll have to pick your battles wisely."

"Really?" Asuna snarled, her temper growing as usual. A plea from Negi to make them stop was dutifully ignored. "We'll see how wise that is."

"You're bold to try and start crap while people are looking, Asuna!" Evangeline countered, her power flaring.

Being nearby a reflecting pool, Asuna was struck with a wonderful, awful idea. With no preamble whatsoever, she went and scooped up the diminutive vampire, and decided to simply chuck her in. With Chachamaru too far away to get to her master in time, the resulting beating she'd get from it would be so worth it.

Alas, the moment Evangeline's complaining set in, the loudspeakers flared to life once more. "**Please refrain from throwing coins, trash, or small children into the reflecting pools.**"

Asuna cursed and set Eva down without any fight.

"Ha! Remembering your place, aren't you?" Eva crowed triumphantly as Asuna stomped away. When the bell-wearing girl didn't respond, she was simply happy to gloat... until she saw Negi, holding his mouth in an attempt not to laugh. It didn't take long for her to put two and two together. "...wait a damn minute!"

Just out of Eva's eyesight, Asuna finally lost it and broke out laughing.

* * *

Time passed. 3-A managed to get some sleep, or at least something like it. With them out in space, there was no marker for sunrise, but rather slightly brighter lights and their own alarms. Negi was one of the first people to wake up, preparing his clothes, travel pack, and his map. Nodoka and Yue soon joined him, almost wordlessly getting their things prepared for the first real day on their field trip. While only Nodoka had been in any danger the past half a day, they knew better than to think it would be an isolated incident.

After much poking and prodding from the three of them, Asuna woke up. "...mmgh, five more minutes..." She groaned intelligently. Of course, Eva, who had been awake for some time, gave her a much ruder awakening with an ice burst—while it had no actual effect on the girl, it would certainly hit with enough force to knock her bed and send her sprawling in the floor. That got Asuna up immediately, although that meant they would be at each other's throats for the next thirty years—or minutes, sort of difficult to remember with those two.

* * *

The first people to the docking bays in which the first part of their real adventure, wasn't Negi or his close team, or any of the teachers.

"Heh, we've got our work cut out for us, don't we, Cocone-chan?" Misora said, gazing out at the vast expanse of space. It truly was a beautiful sight—the many stars in the galaxy looked even more amazing out here than they did on earth. It was when they spotted earth, in all of her blue glory, did they marvel wordlessly.

It was quite the timing when the PA system flared to life again. "**Notice the floating blue planet in the sky in front of you! Soon to be property of Eggman Enterprises.**"

"Why did we have to take this field trip to this place owned by a mega-conglomerate lunatic...!" Misora moaned.

When she didn't get a snarky quip or a warning about divine punishment, she passed a quiet glance at her magister, the smaller girl seemingly lost in thought. "Worried about yesterday?" She asked.

Her mouth hung open slightly, perhaps giving away a note of surprise that she was that easily read.

"Don't worry," Misora said, her voice softer than normal. "I'll protect you, so you don't have to use those powers. And well, if push comes to shove, Negi-sensei's hero team is pretty nice with the freaking Maga Nosferatu of all people, so I doubt someone just having a Dark affinity will scare them."

And from the recesses of the shorter girl's hair, Yacker popped out, giving a nod as he agreed with Misora's statement, never mind the fact that the alien had _no idea what the girls were talking about_.

"In any case, our adventure begins here," Misora said. "I'd really just rather rescue the aliens and let Negi-sensei handle the robot making lunatic, but knowing my luck these days..." Hey, some people don't like being the main character. She turned a bit further, noticing that the rest of 3-A was arriving. "Sup guys! Cocone got antsy, so I—whoa, why's everyone looking all badass right now?"

"Badass" being the epic, determined stares from just about everyone in 3-A, Negi and his rival Kotarou included, staring into space, as if they were all posing for a movie poster. It was scary how influential Ala Alba could get. Maybe their pose was more in anticipation for the excitement? But a closer look at some of their faces looked like they were preparing for battle. And soon enough, Misora would be sucked into another hero thing.

She wasn't liking this one bit.

She could, however, make out the excited murmurs amongst her class, each anxious for the day to begin. Supposedly, their itinerary would first consist of the touring of one of the first planets. A place called... Sweet Mountain?

"Whoooo ho ho hooo!" Came a laugh much like a demented Santa Claus, and seconds later, 3-A's ride swept onto the scene. An impressive red ship, shaped much like a blimp, sailed right down in front of the class. Its front had a massive bust of what appeared to be this park's founder—the same face plastered just about everywhere in the park and hotels.

And lo and behold, the door to the blimp slid open, and the man in question came out—the very same man in red that Nodoka and Misora encountered. As a matter of fact, this caused both of them to suddenly cower behind their classmates. "Welcome to Dr. Eggman's Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park. I am the park's founder and gracious host, Dr. Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik."

"Ah, not good, not good...!" Misora hissed behind Kaede, who (along with Cocone) just stared blankly at her.

Speaking of blank stares, Yue gave one to the busy doctor. "I didn't know Theodore Roosevelt had a reincarnation."

A surprised and horrified Yuna pointed dramatically in his direction. "No way! That has to be Jaime Hyneman!"

"So you're the arc villain?" Evangeline bellowed suddenly, causing her classmates (and Negi) to stare at her as if she had mutated into a follower of Cthulhu. "I'm not impressed."

The one known as Eggman stood off to the side of the door, not even batting an eye at Evangeline's accusation. "Don't hesitate, step right on in! The quicker the tour begins, the more time I have to brainw—err give you opportunity to enjoy more of the park!"

Eva was of course, quick with her sharp tongue. "Way to give yourself away, but then again I bet you were never good at hiding. That lard on your stomach must give you away pretty often, I take it?"

A furious finger was pointed right back at her. "SILENCE!"

"Umm, Eva-san, that's enough (for now)," Negi said, gesturing peace between two parties. Ever the diplomat, the underaged harem hero—err young teacher walked up to Dr. Robotnik. "Well, we'll be under your care, Dr. Robotnik." The students sighed in relief, though half of them were sighing only because they managed to avoid picking the final fight this early in the game.

However, Negi's charity had an undertone of a threat to it. "However, should you harm my students, I can't vouch for your safety." And he let just a touch of his power flare up.

As if taking a cue, the fighters of Ala Alba also took this time to show off brief power flares, undetectable by the magic clueless, but certainly felt in the stares they gave the demented genius.

Not scared in the least, Eggman gave class 3-A a sneer. "Wouldn't dream of it," he responded to Negi. Of course, that straight answer was only hiding his newfound fascination—a bunch of silly school children, not even taking him seriously? He'd _love_ to see why.

With that, Class 3-A boarded the Egg Shuttle, and the blimp like apparatus whisked them away to adventure.

But at least one person was still shaking, nervous from what this field trip would bring.

Misora Kasuga moaned. "Maaaan. I'm gonna hate this field trip..."

-x-x-

(Ah, the short conclusion arc of the Tropical Resort intro. Now we can get into the real meat of the show, though it might be a good while before you next see it. Suggestions welcomed, of course. No author's notes this time, though you can still refer to the previous ones, as I wrote this arc in one sitting. Be awesome and hit that review button!)


	3. Sweet Mountain: The Sweet Stage

**Space Trip Steps**

**Sweet Mountain: The Sweet Stage**

The space shuttle ride was surprisingly quiet. Well, as quiet as 3-A could get.

Misora could make out the excited whispers of her classmates. It was easy to see most faces were joyful, though she could tell that Negi was once again, acting far too old to be ten, considering his deep, thoughtful look on his face. In short order, Asuna (and Kotarou) were nudging him out of such a depressing look, and anyone else who noticed him could rest easy.

That was fine for the speedy nun, she could actually relax a little bit. She had to, if she was going to plan this out right. Firstly was the vast issue of finding out where the aliens are. Secondly, she had to do this without the wicked Dr. Robotnik watching, and without Negi worrying. The last thing she needed to do was cause Negi worry, and have at least eleven people much stronger than her send her to the hospital in several different ways.

But still, it was doable, right? All she had to do is let 3-A cause some mischief, and she could free the aliens! Oh, and maybe convince Negi to blow something up if it meant Eggman could capture them again. Won't be too hard, right?

"We can do this, right?" Misora looked to the seat next to her to see Cocone idly waving her feet. The dark-skinned magister took a moment to recognize Misora talking to her, but when she did she simply stared. "Do what?"

"Save the aliens? The world? The good guy thing?"

"Maybe. But for the last part? Not a chance in hell."

"You're cruel," Misora sobbed crocodile tears.

Their exchange was brought to a halt when Dr. Eggman began to talk through the PA system. "**Next stop is Sweet Mountain! Enjoying our candy paradise is the perfect way to celebrate your next birthday! ...or avoid reaching it.**"

Misora's face wrinkled at that.

"We're not scared of candy!" She heard the twins say.

"That's right, I have dental insurance!" Yuna crowed.

"**We'll see who gets by with the least amount of cavities**," The mad doctor retorted, a sneer crossing his face.

* * *

Class 3-A touched down on the massive planet, and the doors from the shuttle opened. Out popped thirty-something crazy girls, a wolf boy, and an underaged teacher. Greeting them was a vast orange sky, and a vast landscape literally made out of food. Huge hamburgers resting between chocolate mountains, giant Ice Cream cones, and cherries outsizing the lot of them...

"Whoa... Amazing!" came the general response from most of the class, having seen a land made out of food for the first time.

"I wonder if this is even healthy, though," came the soft voice of one Satsuki Yotsuba.

"I know exactly where not to come if I ever go on a diet," Misora stated with aplomb.

"Which means only divine punishment would keep you from coming here," Cocone added. Misora sighed, beaten yet again. She began to stretch her legs, pressing down on them as if preparing for a race.

She could already sense the excitement in the class, and figured that well, while Negi might kill her for this, she might as well go full tilt—the more distraction, the better. "Ha, I bet that fat park owner never mentioned the fact that this place has Ferrero Rocher chocolate up the wazoo!" She noted the sudden pique of interest and the excited whispers.

"Really?.!" came one voice.

"Damn, how come he didn't tell us?.! We have to get some!"

"Let's get some, Secchan!"

She had released the dam locks. If she weren't trying to make her own escape, she'd laugh maniacally.

"Umm class, please stick close and don't—" Negi began, but alas, 3-A ignored his plea, running off to enjoy the endless expanse of food and entertainment. "...spread apart."

"Hoooo ho ho ho!" crowed Dr. Robotnik. "Little kids are always so rambunctious, aren't they? In any case, have fun keeping them out of danger~! Farewell," and he summoned a separate vehicle, one shaped much like an egg. It hovered in place as he got on, revved up the engines and flew away.

Negi sighed. This was going to take a _lot_ of work.

* * *

"**Welcome to the Sweet Mountain!**" came Dr. Robotnik's voice through the loudspeaker. This, while the diminutive twins Fuuka and Fumika laid waste to an entire garden of chocolates."**Insulin will be provided at a marginal extra cost. And by marginal, we mean **_**enormous**_**.**"

The twins stopped. They weren't exactly loaded, and they doubted Ayaka's generosity allowed them to cost more money then she spent for the entire trip.

"**Oh, and by the way, Sweet Mountain has no affiliation to Willy Wonka or his silly chocolate factory. And if any of you even **_**think**_** about supporting such a lunatic, then you **_**lose**_**! **_**Good day**_**, sir! ...Thank you.**"

"So that means we won't get punished for eating up all the sweets?" Fumika asked, feeling relieved about the lack of bad karma and Aesops coming back to bite them in the ass.

"Nope! Not a chance!" came her twin sister's answer. Of course, they went right on pigging out as they had before. The sisters twitched and looked up as a brunette streak zoomed by—that had obviously been Misora. The class knew she liked to run, but she had been all over the place lately. But well... chocolates. Right in front of them. Really, they can't investigate on an empty stomach!

So they went right back to eating everything in sight.

* * *

"This is totally awesome!" Makie cheered, riding the 'Whirling Lollipops' with the other sports girls. "A candy land where everything's made of candy—including the rides!"

"I agree," the silver-haired Ako chirped, smiling. "It's such a wonderful wonderland. I would have loved coming here with 'Nagi-san'..."

"Well with him, don't you just have to wait a few years for Negi-kun?"

"Well..."

"I wonder if the ride is edible?" the tall swimmer Akira pondered. "I mean..." She leaned forward onto one of the lollipop rails, and was about to lick it...

The loudspeaker interrupted. "**We know they look delicious, but please refrain from licking the rides. That would be disgusting. Do you know where those rides have been? People have been sitting on those rides! With their BUTTS!**"

"OBJECTION!" Yuna cried, even though the person on the loudspeaker wouldn't hear her. "Who puts their butts on a HANDRAIL?.!"

As if reluctantly conceding defeat, the loudspeaker hissed, "**Okay, go ahead, lick them! But don't say we didn't warn you.**"

The girls were a little reluctant to lick rides after that. As they traded wary looks, they saw a shape in the distance—wait, wasn't that Misora? She was in the distance, running atop a pathway in one of the big mechanical 'Candy Factories' in the distance. A swarm of those bulky red robots were giving chase, as if all of them were running to a Benny Hill musical.

"Is that... Misora-san?" Yuna asked. "And Cocone-chan on her back?"

"Looks like it. What is she doing?" Makie asked, squinting to verify that.

"I guess she made the staff angry." Akira said, noting that said bulky robots were the same ones that they saw back at the resort, and staffing a good number of the rides. She then noted Misora running in the opposite direction, alongside numerous tiny creatures, all of them fleeing the robots from before. "Yeah... definitely angry."

"This park is pretty scary," Ako remarked.

* * *

"Ojou-sama, please be careful," the dutiful Setsuna instructed. She had just finished off several bulky robots, letting their pieces fall to the floor before exploding. "This place is definitely dangerous. Who lets their robots go on the rampage like this?"

"I don't know," Konoka answered. "This place is really weird, and with everyone running around in their own direction, it's hard to keep up." She tensed as she felt something behind her, and she whirled to see several robotic hornets sail past, only to turn around and aim their stingers at the duo. "Uwah! They've even got robotic wildlife here!"

Setsuna snarled as they aimed their stingers and fired bursts of energy. But there was no need to worry. The swordswoman took a stance, and slashed her sword, catching the bursts with just one counter sweep. The robots actually carried surprise in their faces from the counter, but it was short lived. They attempted to aim and fire again.

As if doing an ancient dance, Setsuna curled, tightening her grip on her sword Yuunagi, before whirling her blade around in a brief flash. She slid her sword back into her sheath. The robot bees attempted to attack once more... but found they simply couldn't. Why?

Setsuna turned her back to them. With one eye open, she murmured, "They're already dead."

And the robots exploded.

Konoka stared briefly in amazement. She swore Setsuna used that phrase from somewhere, but that was nothing compared to the fact that she looked _so cool_ doing it. And as such, Konoka squealed with delight and felt to reward her protector with a rushing glomp. "Eeee! That was so amazing!"

"Uwwaaah!" Setsuna cried out as she and her charge crashed into the muddy chocolate road. "O-o-ojou-sama!"

"Call me Kono-chan!"

And Setsuna stuttered some more. But alas, her pleas not to be so embarrassingly doted on were ignored by an overjoyed Konoka, as well as the loudspeaker apparently. "**Public displays of affection are prohibited on Sweet Mountain grounds on the basis of sugar shock being really annoying to deal with. Unless it's hot. Then it will be recorded and sold at Robotnik Video Stores for a marginal(ly expensive) price.**"

And elsewhere, Haruna remarked, "And of course, I will buy the first copy."

* * *

Kazumi Asakura had been intrigued.

For the first time in a while, she had something of a scoop, and her reporter's hunch was on both the "true nature" of this park, and the odd fashion in which Misora had been acting. True, her fellow classmate and prank master nun was known for being something of a coward, but ever since their arrival, she had been acting even more skittish. Nodoka had mentioned that the nun had saved her, but wouldn't tell much more beyond that, more out of respect for the speedster than anything.

Of course, that was exactly why she would get the story out of Misora herself.

The redhead peeked across an ice cream valley, where she spotted the nun taking a run through one of the pathways, not bothering with the rides like everyone else. Very suspicious indeed. And what was that odd orange thing following her? Considering how fast Misora was, tracking her might be difficult.

She smirked. Nothing escaped her, though.

There was a reason she gave GPSes to everyone that morning, and she made special notice to plant one on the people who hung on the fringe edges of Ala Alba—notably, people like Yuna and Misora. So it was fortunate her phone worked out here, all the way in space. She flipped it open, taking note and seeing Misora's signal heading northward. "Heh, all too easy!"

Sharing space with her was a tiny doll, looking much like a miniature white-haired girl in an old school uniform. But that was just a front—haunting it was Sayo Aisaka, a ghost girl looking much like the doll on her should, though far more realistic. Her ghostly form peeked over Asakura. "What are you up to?" She asked, having more or less simply enjoyed the ride on Asakura up until this point.

"Poor Negi-kun's been panicking on everyone splitting up, so I'm keeping tabs on people of interest. Notably, Misora-san and her little magister Cocone Rosa-chan have been pretty active as of late. So I'm keeping my eyes on them," the reporter explained, trekking through a candy trail.

"Why would she be all over the place?" Sayo asked.

"That's what I'm trying to find out, of course!" Asakura gave a wink to her ghostly partner. They stopped, however, upon noting that there were quite a few more robots around lately. She hissed and hid behind a rock candy formation, watching the red clunkers patrol on by.

Something told her that things might be a bit more complicated than she thought.

"Geez, these robots don't look too friendly," She remarked quietly. "Doesn't look like Misora's pranking anything. She might be in something serious."

"Eh?" Sayo blinked.

"I'd thought she would be just annoying all the robots, but it looks more complicated than that," Asakura explained. "They're guarding something. And Misora-san might have made herself part of it."

The ghost shivered.

When the coast cleared, Asakura snuck past. It seemed almost too easy. "Let's get to the bottom of this." With that, she withdrew her pactio card—her artifact gained from her partnership with the underaged harem male lead. "Adeat."

Oculus Corvinus flared to life. The small, camera-like golems split, and the six of them trailed her as she stepped towards a suspicious factory, nestled between a small mountain range.

* * *

Her chase on Misora temporarily forgotten, Asakura waved out her six miniature golems, with the Sayo doll catching a ride on one of them. Inside, she used her device to find out just what exactly was going on. And so far, she could only see a small robot producing factory. A video feed, showing six separate locations within the place. "Sure isn't a Chocolate Factory. For all I know though, these guys are just making robots. Suspicious, but hardly worth writing home about just yet. I need something bigger."

She kept her eyes peeled for something else new, but nothing else really stood out—other than the fact that the factory was dimly lit, mostly because the robots were just fine getting by on enhanced sight modules. Asakura thought briefly of Chachamaru, and wondered what she might think of these numerous red clunkers.

But that was before the golem carrying Sayo caught her attention on her video feed.

"Hey, look!" The ghost girl cried. "There's something very suspicious up ahead!"

"Eh?" This caught her attention. She focused in on Sayo's feed, and sure enough, she spotted something—the red containers, housing numerous trapped aliens. "What in the—" She didn't understand yet what she was seeing. "Get in closer!"

"Okay!" And Sayo did, guiding the golem closer to the container, where she saw the aliens. They looked remarkably similar to the creature that had purportedly been following Misora for a while now.

She was definitely on a huge mystery—not unlike Scooby Doo.

She immediately jumped up. "This is huge! I gotta tell Negi-kun!"

Bad news, though: she was a bit louder than she thought she was.

She heard gibberish to her left. "Sayo? Did you say something?"

"Umm, no."

"Huh." And she absently looked left—oh hey look! A munchkin pirate robot! "Hey little guy! Don't mind me, I'm just taking souvenir photos!"

It hopped madly and spoke gibberish. From that, a second and a third one appeared.

"Aww, come on," Asakura said, inching back. She temporarily forgot that despite their weak appearance, they could summon friends. "Give me a break!" And she began to edge herself away, breaking into a full sprint on the way back out.

Well, if she could. Floating, orb-shaped robots with cat ears had blocked her exit.

Asakura skidded to a stop, and tailed back the other way. Maybe there was another exit she could escape safely from.

* * *

No dice.

Asakura found herself staring at the business end of several robot pirates, which, despite looking like tiny Matryoshka dolls, were as every bit as threatening as pirates her normal size. Worse yet, she had discovered herself on the tiny pirate's home base—a massive ship, lodged within a hangar of the factory. Two words left our snooping reporter, a result of the impending genre savvy giving her a warning head slap. "Oh, _crap_!"

The lead captain, a robot who was roughly two and a half times Asakura's size, brandished a giant lollipop much like a sword. It looked akin to a yellow Lego Snowman swathed in purple pirate getup. It hopped up and down, muttering gibberish and pointing furiously at Asakura. She didn't speak gibberish, but she well knew what that meant: Lights out.

But there was a reason she didn't go alone.

"Sayo, get help!" She whispered, just as her ghostly partner materialized.

Sayo, reluctant to leave Asakura's side when she was vulnerable like this, tried to object, "B-b-but...!"

"Get out of here! Whatever happens, I—" those words were interrupted, not by death, but the tiny pirates lassoing her chest at least three times. Sayo squeaked as Asakura crashed into the ground. The reporter sent one last look at the ghost, forcing her to flee before the pirates overwhelmed her. The lassoed rope was used to bind her arms to her side and her hands behind her back. And just because the robot pirates were jerks, they used the leftover rope to bind her ankles together, essentially forcing her in a hogtie. She gave a weak smile. "Geez guys, way to play rough. Not sure if I could handle all of you at once. I mean, I may have a body like this but I'm not out of high school yet!"

This seemed to piss them off. How dare this crazy snoop imply dirty things! They were _chaste_ evil pirate robots, for crying out loud! The furious leader pointed to the mast, and his little minions decided that Asakura's dirty mouth must be silenced while they prepared for takeoff.

"Awww, hit a sore spot? Maybe—mmmph!" Yeah, that was quickly stopped with the cloth shoved in her mouth, secured by some more rope. Much to her chagrin, she found herself dragged away, just as she felt the ship rumble and prepare to exit port. As the hidden bay doors opened, Asakura felt the ship lift—it was no ordinary pirate ship!

This was not going to go well at all...

* * *

"Hmmm, those school children could be something else, huh?" Dr. Robotnik rubbed his handlebar mustache, straightening it out as he configured his thoughts.

"I must say, boss, you should know that the hedgehog is barely older than many of these kids," The red Orbot interjected. "Underestimate children at your own peril."

"What do you think I am, a fool?.! Paranoid? These little park goers are completely unknowing of my plans! How could they possibly be a threat?" With that, a phone rang. "Hang on, let me get this." He pressed the speakerphone button. "Speak." Commanded the portly madman.

Gibberish came from the other end.

"What do you want, Captain Jelly?"

Even more gibberish, heated than normal.

"I think he said 'Little Timmy fell down the well!'" Interjected the yellow Cubot. He was rewarded with another wrench to his noggin.

"You have a reporter?" Eggman announced the dubiously correct translation and sighed. "Snooping as usual, I see."

"Hey boss!" Cubot asked, recovering too quickly. "What's a PINGAS?"

Dr. Robotnik jabbed a furious finger in his direction. "DON'T YOU EVEN _START_. That meme isn't even funny!"

More gibberish left the speakers.

"You have her captured? So why are you calling me? Make her walk the plank or something!"

The gibberish communicated something.

"Oh right! She has friends, hmmm? If you see that Sonic-wannabe girl, deliver a personal beating, on account of me!" He flexed his fingers. "As much as they want to see themselves as liberators of some silly alien race, as long as they don't guess my true intentions, they won't even be a threat." He sneered, looking over at one of his numerous blueprints. The particular one that caught his eye was a prototype that he had been working on for quite a while. It resembled a narrow raygun, fashioned to fit his Egg-o-Matic. "My prototype is nearly ready."

* * *

"**Due to cost restraints, some of the d****onuts used on these rides are of the 'day o****ld' variety. We hope you don't mind this cost-cutting measure, and hope you enjoy the ride.**"

Cocone loathed hearing that information after having a mouthful of that giant donut... not realizing it was stale until it hit her taste buds. She stuck out her tongue and let the nasty food plop to the ground, and it was a forgotten lump of nastiness in seconds.

Misora frowned. "I swear these things have the worst timing. I'll get you a better one, okay?" It should be mentioned that Misora is carrying the young girl while running in excess of about 100 miles an hour, sliding down a cone and sprinting up a brownie cliff. She skidded to a stop right at the edge, taking a look around. She was still amazed this planet was standing and 3-A hadn't already eaten it to a husk.

The yellow, drill-shaped Wisp that had been following them for some time hadn't really picked up anything interesting since they initially discovered him. Watching them take Asuna for a drill had been pretty fun, but that was before she hit the chocolate well, soaking nearly everyone nearby. She dodged the spray for some time, but the universe was clearly telling her to get the hell out once she heard the term "mud wrestling" being tossed out by the likes of Haruna. Shakti would have her head if Cocone was corrupted by the class of 3-A.

Misora had business to do, and that was rescuing more aliens. "If I were some aliens in need of rescuing, where would I be...?" Both she and Cocone peered out in the horizon, shading their eyes with straightened hands as they looked onwards. "Got anything, Cocone?"

"No..." Misora's dark-skinned passenger began, but over in the distance, she spotted something. "Wait!" There was something emerging from the mountains nearby. She tapped Misora on the head and pointed her in that direction.

"Eh?" came Misora's confused voice.

That's when the ground rumbled, and a huge, flying pirate ship emerged.

Misora had the same reaction Asakura had earlier: "Oh. _CRAP_!"

Cocone just gaped. Not often did they see a giant pirate ship just rise out of nowhere.

"Well, we'll just tell Negi-sensei about it, and he'll use one of his badass powers to get rid of it if it attacks us, right?"

That idea ended very quickly, as a familiar golem floated from the ship, and on top of it rode a white speck, revealing itself in a poof to be Sayo. "Help! Oh please help! Kazumi's in trouble!" Before Misora could even think about running, the ghostly apparition grabbed the girl and began to shake her—somehow. "You have to help! The candy pirates are gonna make her walk the plank!"

Misora turned away to hide her absolute despair. "_Why meeeeee_?.!"

"Negi-sensei might be too far away," Cocone added, staring mutely at Sayo.

"Geh, I'm not prepared for this!" Misora turned back to Sayo. "Please don't make me blow up the giant robot!"

"Well... you can just save Asakura if that's all you want to do..." Sayo said quietly.

That considerably improved her mood. Less responsibility! "Great!" Misora cheered. "Don't you worry! We'll just sneak aboard and have Asakura out in a jiffy!"

"I don't think that's going to work out that easily..." Cocone mumbled.

"Don't ruin it...!" Misora part whined, part hissed. She dropped to one knee, feet flexed to sprint, as if she were about to run a track sprint. "Okay, artifact ready? Let's rock!" And she burst into pursuit.

-X-X-

(This ends the chapter. I'm still angry they got rid of interrobangs, but ah well. Notes on this arc will go up when I upload its second half. Please drop reviews, suggestions and ideas!

I'm not sure if I should go with renaming all of my titles to something more idiosyncratic instead of just the part 2s of the arc. I'll decide on that in the future.)


	4. Sweet Mountain: My Sweet Passion

**Space Trip Steps**

**Sweet Mountain: My Sweet Passion**

Where was Negi in all this? Quite simply, he was still much too serious, even after trying to avoid Ayaka and her mountain of amassed chocolates.

Trying not to _look_ like he was running away, while making his escape as fast as possible, Negi briskly walked down another candy path, closer to a valley of mountains. "Man, I can't keep up with my students at all, least of all Misora-san!" he lamented. "And the few people I can keep up with would rather force feed me chocolates—"

"Negi-bouzu!" called out a voice.

Negi skidded to a stop and turned to see Ku Fei, running up to him. If he didn't have to blink, he could have sworn a blue glow had just left her. "Ku Fei-san!"

"You okay?" She asked him.

Negi sighed. "I'm okay, but I don't know if any of the class is. They split up so quickly. And this place is so dangerous!" He flexed a muscle, and some of his dark magic hissed unseen beneath his clothes. "Just over the past hour or two, I've been bashing robots and deactivating traps!"

"Actually... it kinda make things fun, too," Ku Fei impishly responded, and Negi's eyes grew wide.

"You can't be serious!" He gasped.

"Well, it's a little annoying keeping people like twins from accepting candy from strange robots, but beating robots up afterward is great practice!" She smiled brightly. "Oh, and there weird aliens in capsules. I freed one. It make me super fast runner, though not as fast as Misora-san."

Negi sighed and shook his head. Again. This class... "Only 3-A would relish wrecking the park of a suspected super villain..." A pause. "Wait... aliens?"

"You and Eva-chan know us well," Ku Fei offered a bright smile. To her credit, it did improve Negi's mood a little bit. "As for the aliens..."

But their conversation stopped, however, when they saw a ship emerge from the mountains. Moments later, a tan blur dashed after it, trying to keep even with it. The two of them didn't have to be geniuses to figure out who that was.

"Misora-san!" they chorused.

Ku Fei, however, was faster. She burst ahead, adding her own blue-yellow blur in pursuit of the tan one. While Negi had a lightning ability that was even faster, it took a moment to charge, and that moment was all he had to lose.

"Negi-senseeeiiiii~!" His own name stopped him short.

Negi whirled to see Ayaka had in fact caught up to him. "Um, Ayaka-san."

She beamed at her recent first name earning. And of course, she was dragging a small wagon of chocolates. "Please accept this gift on behalf of Yukihiro Corp. and Eggman Industries!"

Negi wanted to turn her down. So badly. Not because of any grudge against the Class Rep—on the contrary, they had gotten closer after the visit to the Magic World. But there was no damn way he was going to eat that whole wagon of chocolates. No way.

But her face was so pure, happy, and innocent...

"Sure!" He said, smiling and already working on his first piece. He was already loathing his pathetic resistance.

* * *

Across the landscapes and through the mechanical bays, Misora kept in pursuit of the ship. Cocone held on for dear life, also holding the doll that Sayo herself haunted. She took a sideways glance, seeing the ship above and by their side, not yet aware of their pursuit below.

The flying ship easily cruised by, heading between chocolate mountains. Misora took note and tried to pursue, but the mountain would be too steep, or at least too steep for her to maintain pace. "Geez, we won't make it at this rate!"

"You'd have to be able to go through the mountain if you wanted to keep up," Cocone said. "Try going through the side."

"Wait... go through, you say?" The wheels in Misora's head spun. It seemed that the fastest way to launch herself on the ship undetected was to use the little ability she learned today. How fortunate that moments later, the yellow Wisp that had been following them finally caught up. "I know how to do that." She turned to the drill-shaped alien. "You can help me out, right? We need to drill up!"

It nodded, spun, and plunged into Misora's body. The nun began to glow, rapidly shining yellow before striking a finger pointing pose. "_Hang on tight_!"

Imbued with the Wisp's power, she drilled into the mountainous earth, swinging upwards.

"Uwaahhhhh..." Cocone moaned, trying not to get dizzy from the sheer speed and power of Misora's drilling.

"_My drill will be the drill that pierces the heavens!_" The prankster cried, bursting out of the mountain into a ridiculous dynamic leap. She hung in the air, seemingly forever, before finally landing downward on the stern of the ship. Somehow, her other passengers landed without screwing up Misora's landing as well.

Untouched by Misora's antics, Cocone landed by her side. They began to look for Asakura, and any captive aliens while they were at it. They didn't have to look very far.

The deck was huge, but not unnavigable. The entirety of it could be seen about the length of a football field, seeing little more than the deck itself, plenty of cannons and the few poles holding the masts. Secured in the middle was a larger version of the red capsules she saw last night.

In the distance, on the bow of the ship, was one tied up Asakura.

She didn't look too distressed, more annoyed than anything. Unfortunately, she was at the edge of the ship, and true to Sayo's fright, they were in fact, making her walk the plank. Misora expected to hear some witty comebacks from the reporter, but alas she saw her mouth was sealed with cloth. Or something. And a bunch of little guys were poking her towards her doom.

Damn, there went her quick rescue.

Still, there could possibly be a way to distract them. Misora stepped up and motioned Cocone to follow. The yellow wisp and Sayo's doll hid in her shirt. Sneaking quietly, Misora approached, trying to formulate some sort of plan.

The loudspeakers came to life, Misora wound up freezing too loudly and her element of surprise was completely ruined. "**Attention! Visitors are cautioned to avoid feeding, petting, or saving any aliens!**"

Misora grunted her disapproval and shook her head. The _timing_ of this jerk...

"**Oh, and also no saving snooping reporters either.**"

Cocone face-faulted.

And of course, that got the attention of the robot pirates. They angrily hopped towards the duo, pointing their nonexistent limbs in fury over the intruders.

Peeking out from behind her hiding place, Sayo shouted, "Give back Kazumi-chan, you meanies!"

While Cocone looked mildly cowed, Misora straight up laughed. "These guys kidnapped Asakura? Dahahahaha!" They looked so cute and harmless? Maybe they all just got the jump on her, thus the problem—

Suddenly: GOTCHA.

Misora paled and dived out of the way just as a gigantic lollipop crashed into where she stood just moments before. "What the—" She whirled around to see her attacker. "Oh crap."

The imposing Captain Jelly himself loomed over her, his lollipop weapon aimed menacingly in her direction. The robot spoke gibberish akin to a villain of a low-VA-budget kid's video game, but that didn't make him any less threatening.

Cocone stepped back.

"This is _not good_...!" Misora cried as she grabbed Cocone and sprinted backwards, trying not to get beaten by the giant lollipop. The wicked pirate robot leapt again, bringing down his sweet weapon in an attempt to crush Misora's head, followed by another sweep towards her when she rolled to evade that.

Captain Jelly bounced up and shouted gibberish, pointing his lollipop in Misora's direction. At once, she heard mechanical whirring.

"That doesn't sound good," Cocone muttered.

That didn't sound good because the cannons whirred and fired in their general direction. Cannonballs sailed into the air, crashing down and exploding around them.

"Waaaaaahhhhh!" Misora cried out, sprinting like mad to evade the cannonballs, which exploded with magnificent force, nearly shaking her out of her concentrated run. The ship seemed to be immune to its own fire, so just running around until the ship destroyed itself was out of the question. Misora needed to get Kazumi out of there, and quickly.

She had been sprinting for a good while now, and she could now feel the burn in her legs as she pumped them in an effort to evade the sailing cannonballs—oh yipe, nearly tripped on one of the tiny robot pirates!

The small fry had been gathering around her slowly, almost as if they were hoping she wasn't paying attention. And indeed, thanks to them hopping around, speeding around was no longer an option. "Aiyah! Those little guys are everywhere!" She complained.

Cocone brandished her tiny trainer's wand. "Let me take care of them." She pointed, drawing upon her latent power. "Saggita Magica... Series Fulguralis!" Seventeen arrows of lightning shot out at her wand, blasting through the robots and blowing them to smithereens.

"Nice one!" Misora crowed, leaping away as Captain Jelly leapt in to avenge his comrades and attempt to smash her down.

On the other side, still being poked ever so closer to the edge of the ship, was Asakura. By now, she was actually trying to fight back against the tiny buggers, but the rope around her ankles and binding her hands behind her back pretty much made her a weakling. She mumbled her displeasure under the gag as the tiny pirates continued to bounce like demented grasshoppers and try to shove her forward.

_You know, this is a pretty embarrassing way to die_, she thought idly, annoyed at such prospects. _So if Kasuga would so kindly hurry up..._

As if reading her thoughts, Misora yelled, "I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying!" It was getting trickier to hold her footing against all the projectiles and leaping robot pirates trying to bludgeon her from above. But if she pulled off this next move...

Not quite. Captain Jelly twisted his body and smacked Misora from the side, sending her spiraling away painfully. She crashed against the edge of the ship. "Oww..." She complained.

Captain Jelly leapt to strike again, but this time, Cocone was there. Desperation sneaking into her voice, Cocone muttered, "Dark Barrier," Lollipop met dark purple shield, but Cocone strained this time to keep it up. "Still not strong enough..."

That got worse when a cannonball sailed into the air, crashing into the barrier and shattering it. Cocone fell onto her rear, the shock of the failed barrier stunning her. Captain Jelly seemed to sneer as it prepared to strike the duo, but by that time, Misora had recovered and suddenly dropped down below, dragging Cocone with her. Captain Jelly only struck part of his ship.

By the time Cocone could make sense of things, she was below deck, and Misora was glowing with the power of the yellow wisp. "Hehe, just waiting for this right moment to pop up!" The nun giggled.

Cocone was slightly impressed.

"Cocone-chan, I'll distract them! As soon as they're all away, free Asakura!" Misora crouched to her knees, waiting for something. The banging above obviously meant that Captain Jelly was still hopping around, looking for them.

Moments passed.

Once a bang shot above her, Misora shouted to her, "Now!" and sprang into action, whirling with the Yellow Drill's power. She smashed into Captain Jelly from below, knocking him off of his nonexistent feet for heavy damage.

Cocone scrambled up, emerging to see that, just as Misora expected, the munchkins beating up on a tied up and helpless Asakura abandoned post and bounced to help their leader once he actually took damage. Cocone herself edged by them, opting not to draw their attention.

Misora suddenly found herself evading the angry pounces of several tiny munchkin pirate robots. A simple kick took care of most of them, but with so many around, it was getting tougher to fight back.

It really wasn't helping matters that Captain Jelly had recovered—mostly—and sought to end the battle in furor. Misora's cowardly instincts kicked in again, and she scrambled to get away—

That was quickly stopped with an extending pole to his face. In moments, Ku Fei appeared, landing from her strike as Captain Jelly crashed into the ground, and failed to move after that. From Ku Fei's leaping strike, he had been thoroughly defeated and shut down. "Oi~!" She greeted the nun. "When you say 'I beat giant robot' yesterday, I thought you were joking!"

"You were actually paying attention?" Misora reeled back, surprised that her earlier slip had caught people's attention. "And geez, I know I'm a coward, but at least let me finish my own boss fights, okay?"

"Why?" Ku Fei asked, tilting her head. Then, an impish grin crossed her face. "You jelly?"

"That was obviously _him_," The prankster cast an irritated finger towards the defeated Captain Jelly.

"Yo!" Asakura crowed, shifting out of her ropes, thanks to help from the Sayo doll and Cocone. "Thanks for the help. Kinda embarrassing being caught by surprise like that." The golems she had out drew back towards her. "I got some good stuff, but apparently the gold was right here!" And as a side note, she muttered, "Abeat!" and the golems were but a card in her hand once more.

"I wasn't a hero. Honest. I just came by to save the aliens!" Misora protested, weakly. Speaking of which, the capsule in the center of the ship still glistened brightly.

"What's this about aliens?" Ku Fei asked idly.

"Look for yourself," Misora responded, walking over to the capsule. "Bet you've seen these (or smaller versions) around the park, haven't you? They're just capturing aliens!" She stomped on the release pad, and the capsules turned off. A rush of white aliens fluttered away to freedom, a few of them muttering gibberish in thanks to Misora.

"Likely story, Misora-chan," Asakura grinned. Already in reporter mode, she started with the questions. "So what made you decide to go heroic eco-terrorist?"

"I'm not an eco-terrorist! The guy that owns this park is a madman!" Misora shouted back in her defense. "He's got the heaviest kidnapping fetish I've seen, and whatever he's doing to the aliens can't be good!"

"But why would he capture them?" Asakura asked.

"Don't know the whole answer, but I'm gonna find out." Misora answered, winding her arm to stretch out the kinks. "When I rescued Miyazaki-san yesterday, they helped me out by granting me freaky powers, and when she read their minds, they mentioned somebody was trying to use their powers... for evil, obviously. I think Park Owner-san is the guy who's doing it. Plus he's got all this weird technology all over the planets, like..." Not too far away, the group saw a wide structure, silvery-white, with a glowing force field at the top. It had what looked like the bottom half of a skull on its center, glowing red lines outlining the shape, and comprising a single red eye.

The ship was heading straight for it.

"Can anyone steer a pirate ship?" Cocone asked.

"Nope." Said Misora.

"Not I." Asakura added.

"No." Ku Fei added.

Sayo and the yellow Wisp shook their heads.

"I think we might need to get off, then," Cocone said, as the ship approached the haunting building. "Like now."

"Aww, don't tell me that beating up the boss is gonna make this thing _crrraaassshh_!" Misora wailed. And the members of 3-A present screamed and got the hell out of dodge as their little world exploded from the failed ship colliding with what was apparently a generator.

Unknown to them at the time, a gold chain extending to the heavens (and back to the Tropical Resort) faded away.

* * *

"**Due to Rock Candy Rain, the shuttle will be returning to Tropical Resort thirty minutes early. However, that time is not now. Until then, enjoy your 200 damage!**"

The tired class of 3-A slogged back into the shuttle, trying to keep themselves sane and steady. Doped up on candy, however, that was a tough task, stomachs sick due to either overconsumption or the painful Rock Candy rain. The twins were the only people fully positively, bouncing off the walls as if they had their own Cyan Laser abilities.

Makie seemed completely unaffected by today's visit. "That was fun! And delicious!"

"Not as delicious as Setsuna, apparently," Haruna noted drolly, pointing over to where the duo were walking. The guardian's face was beet red as Konoka continued to innocently lick at the woman's fingers. Well, as innocent as one could look while licking fingers. "Who knows what they were doing while nobody was watching?"

"E-e-everybody was watching!" Setsuna complained, just as Konoka stopped.

"Why does everyone like watching us anyway?" the impish healer asked.

"Because you two are cute and obvious around each other?" came an attempt to be helpful from Yuuna.

"Enough clowning around!" Eva grumped. "Get in the freaking shuttle before we take any more damage!"

* * *

They were back at the Tropical Resort.

Negi, stomach aching from all the candy he ate (and it wasn't even his fault. So many of his well meaning students kept offering him prizes, surely it would be rude to turn them down!), struggled to enter his room before he plopped down on the bed, utterly defeated. "Auuughhh... my pancreas..." Negi groaned into his pillow. "If I see any more candy, I'm blasting it. To smithereens."

"Had enough, Negi?" Asuna taunted gently, coming into the room. She tossed him some stomach medicine. "Luckily we brought our own, this stuff had like 300 percent markup on the stores near here. It's ridiculous!"

Negi sighed absently as he gazed at the medicine. "Well, this place is a theme park. All the cool stuff has to be expensive."

"They snipe your wallet through that kind of crap!" Asuna groused. "It's highway robbery!"

Negi smiled. It was good to have a few days like this, especially after all of the chaos they had gone through in the magic world, and the harrowing adventures they all went through. But now he had time to take it easy—or at least, easier than he had been. Keeping tabs on all of his students was at least, slightly less painful then fighting for the fate of the world and nearly losing himself to darkness in the process.

There was one thing that concerned him, though. "Misora-san has been acting pretty odd, lately. I saw her chasing a pirate ship ride—before it crashed."

"Isn't she on some sort of 'RESCUE THE ALIENS' crusade or something?" Asuna asked, scratching her head. "That's what Bookstore said. _Everyone's_ been seeing her run around all over the place. Not to mention the second big accident's hit the park since she went someplace on her own. Rescuing Asakura of all people..."

Negi nodded grimly. "I'm surprised Robotnik-san hasn't tried to press charges. First the Ferris Wheel, and now that pirate ship, though Asakura-san insists that Misora's actually doing a good thing..."

"Bookstore agreed," Asuna sat down next to him. "But I'm still a little dubious. As ripoff as the prices are around here, and the fact that I sure wouldn't invite the average non-mage, this place is actually kinda fun. And those aliens..."

"Nodoka-san mentioned to me that there are a bunch of alien creatures throughout the park." Negi answered. "And Ku Fei-san said that one lent her some power. While I don't like my students causing trouble, I'm having a little difficulty taking the side of Robotnik-san."

They heard the loudspeaker outside—faint, but if they were silent, they could still hear it clearly. "**Please refrain from foiling evil schemes, plots, and/or plans while inside the park. Foiling is strictly prohibited!**"

"Like Chisame-chan said, announcements like that don't exactly fill me with confidence." Asuna made a face.

But Negi's stomach growled in pain, and he rolled over. "Dang it, but I can't investigate like thissss," he moaned. He took the recommended dosage of medicine for his age, and hoped that the pain would go away. "It's enough challenge trying to keep the class from wrecking this place BEFORE we find out what's going on."

"Misora's the one who's all gung-ho about it, but I think if we keep some tabs on her, it'll all make sense," Asuna said. "We'll keep an eye on her (and bail her out if she's stupid). You just focus on having fun and keeping the rest of the class out of trouble, okay?" She ruffled his hair.

Negi closed his eyes. While slightly miffed at the ruffle, he was glad Asuna had his back. "Fine with me."

-x-x-

(Well now, this concludes the Sweet Mountain arc. Tune in next time for Starlight Carnival, where I can start amping up the chaos and change some bosses around! Dohohoho, keep your eyes peeled, and hang on for the new year!

Keep your eyes peeled on the author's notes, I'll be updating those in the near future, like within the next day.)


End file.
